Parker takes SuperSport win

From AMA Pro Racing

MONTEREY, CA - Ricky Parker picked up his second career AMA Pro SuperSport victory at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday.

Riding the No. 96 Graves Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6, Parker qualified on the pole position earlier in the day, pulled out into the lead on the race's standing start and was never challenged on his way to the SuperSport victory by 12.723 seconds over Russ Wikle. Parker earned his first SuperSport win in May at Infineon Raceway -- his first start in the series -- and finished second last time out at Road America.

Those performances coupled with Saturday's victory move him to the top of the SuperSport West championship standings, despite the fact that he missed the first two rounds of the season. Parker now leads Tyler Odom -- who finished 15th and earned no points after a first-lap crash Saturday -- by 14 points, 88-74, after five of seven races.

"It's never easy," Parker said. "I had a lot of pressure on the start. I was worrying about these two guys (Wikle and Bryce Prince) catching back up with me and passing me during the race. I pulled a fast gap at the beginning and I think Russell did a bunch of mistakes at the beginning and lost the gap. When you lose eye contact, it's hard to keep up with the guy in front of you, but he's an awesome rider. I know he could have been there if he hadn't done those few mistakes in the beginning."

Finishing second after starting second was Wikle on the No. 5 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600. It was the third podium result of the season for the SuperSport East championship contender.

"First off, you can't be disappointed with a podium finish," Wikle said. "I'd like to be on top, but I guess that's reserved for my boy Ricky over here. The race started off pretty good. I got a mediocre start and I was second into (Turn) 2 here. I really wanted to put my head down and try and stay with Ricky, but I think I made a couple of mistakes early on and let him get an early gap. It just kind of went downhill from there, trying to keep up with him. Then, I just worried about keeping the bike in second place and bringing it home."

Coming out on top in the race's most pitched battle was Prince on the No. 74 Sho-Gun Motorsports Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. Prince fought James Rispoli for position virtually throughout the race on the way to his first SuperSport podium result of the year.

"It was a pretty good battle the whole race with James," said Prince. "The last two laps, I just pushed as hard as I could and I ended up putting a gap on him, just a little bit to hold him off to the finish line."

Rispoli came home fourth on the No. 71 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600. It was Rispoli's second fourth-place result in as many SuperSport starts this season. Garrett Willis filled out the top five on the No. 80 Mach 1 Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6.

SuperSport Race Results (Top 10)
1. Ricky Parker (Graves Motorsports) Yamaha YZF-R6 18 Laps
2. Russ Wikle (Roadracingworld.com) Suzuki GSX-R600 +12.723
3. Bryce Prince (Clawson Motorsports) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R +24.946
4. James Rispoli (NPS Racing) Suzuki GSX-R600 +25.864
5. Garrett Willis (Mach 1 Motorsports) Yamaha YZF-R6 +38.888
6. Robert Tinagero (G&B Cycle Pro) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R +58.838
7. Clint Shobert (American Honda) Honda CBR600RR +58.973
8. Christopher Clark (Bazzaz) Yamaha YZF-R6 +1:00.230
9. Brian Pinkstaff (Zlock Racing) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R +1:15.449
10. Matthew Presting (Advanced Metal Systems) Honda CBR600RR +1:31.319
Race Time: 27:25.836
Margin of Victory: 12.723
Best Race Lap: Ricky Parker (1:30.521)